Shrimp Fried Rice

I like recipes that I can make a big batch of, and have last me all week one that I've discovered is shrimp fried rice. The great thing about this recipe is that you can substitute the protein and even the veggies to whatever you have around the house.

SHRIMP FRIED RICE

2 cups uncooked brown rice

2 eggs

2 carrots

1/2 cabbage

1 bag frozen uncooked shrimp (about 40-50 shrimps)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1.5 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Prepare rice as usual and set aside. In a wok style pan heat olive oil on low heat add cabbage and thinly sliced carrots. Toss the cabbage so its coated with oil and allow the cabbage to reduce to desired tenderness. Add soy sauce and thawed shrimps toss to coat. Add cooked rice and both eggs. Continue cooking until eggs are cooked and shrimps are at desired doneness. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy

Red Cabbage Salad

This is a great accompaniment to the sausage burgers either on the side or on top of the patty. I've grown to love cabbage as it seems to be one of the few vegetables that lasts longer than a week, talk about value!!!

Red Cabbage Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 of a red cabbage

2 carrots

1/4 of white or yellow onion

1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard

2 Tbsp low fat mayonnaise

Chop up the red cabbage to bite size pieces and set aside in a large bowl. Peel two carrots and then grate into the bowl with the red cabbage, toss. Add chopped onion and toss. Measure out mayo and mustard toss and serve. This makes two full meal servings (I find cabbage very filling) or four side dishes.

Enjoy

Sausage Burgers

I thought I would share this tasty and frugal recipe for homemade burgers. If you're like me you have no time to waste preparing a meal when you get home from work, so I'm always happy to find recipes that save me time and money.

Sausage Burgers

Ingredients:

1 Package of pre-made sausages (Johnsonville or PC Brand work best)

Cooking Spray

Salt & Pepper

1 Package of Hamburger Buns

Cut open the sausage casing and push the filling out. Form the filling of one sausage into a hamburger patty. If you buy Italian or Bratwurst flavoured sausages, the beauty is that they're already seasoned. Spray a frying pan to coat and cook patties over medium heat, about 4-5 minutes per side depending on desired doneness. Sprinkle with a little salt & pepper and voila!!!

The Dinner You Have To Eat

Most of my friends have this scenario at least once a week, for me its every other weekend. Every other Saturday my boyfriend and I have dinner at his Mother's house which is great, I love a good family dinner. His family background is Ukranian and so there are a lot of traditional dishes at every meal.  The Ukranian diet includes a lot of heavy carbohydrates like perogi, mashed potatoes, and other dishes that involve a pastry with a heavy cream sauce. Most of the vegetables are also cooked in a heavy cream and the meat, traditionally pork also has a very heavy gravy and cabbage rolls on the side.

There is no way I can lower the calorie content of any of these dishes, I'm not cooking, and I'm not going to insult the cook by bringing a spinach salad on the side. My only way to control the calorie content is to portion control. I have a little bit of everything and make sure to eat one plate so that I can have a little desert, which is usually cobbler.

I used to actually stress about this meal every time the day approached, but now I've learned how to deal with it. By having a little bit of everything and not going for seconds I feel satisfied, and most important, I feel that I've made the cook happy by enjoying her food.

My 'Occupy' Movement

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've discovered that occupying my evenings with something other than television helps to curb my mindless eating. I know now that its easy to say 'just do something else' but when you get so used to watching your favorite shows every night its difficult to pick up another habit. Aside from blogging about my weight loss; here are a few things I've started doing in the evening  to occupy myself:

Prep for the next day:

Like many of you I have a full work day that starts when I wake up at 6AM so any time spent in the evening to make my day more efficient helps. I pack my breakfast and lunch every day so this requires two meal preps plus I take out a protein from the freezer to thaw so that when I get home dinner takes less than thirty minutes. I also have to pack my gym bag which is an entire outfit plus toiletries. Also I work in an office so yes there is a dress code and I have to have an outfit that is appropriate and as lint-free and wrinkle-free as possible. I realize that this simple prep doesn't seem like much but after timing myself (meal prep time differs slightly depending on what I cook for lunch) this takes up 45mins-1 hour  of my evening. This puts me at about 7 o'clock.

Take the time to dine:

I like having my dinner prepare as I do my 'next day prep' after which I used to sit myself and turn on the TV. This was such a huge mistake because we really do eat mindlessly in front of the TV, I eat twice as fast as I would sitting down at the dining room table. Now I set a place for myself at my dining room table and since I'm eating slower and savouring my food I feel fuller than when I wolf it down. This puts me at about 7:30.

Tidy up:

There's a sense of pride that comes from having a clean house. Every night I wash the dishes take out the trash and do a load of laundry if necessary. I also take this time to pay any bills and go through my mail and email and return any messages. This puts me at 8 o'clock.

Walk the dog:

Besides the actual necessity of this activity for your pet, an evening stroll is a great way to clear your head. I usually like to keep mine between 30-45 mins. This puts me at 8:45.

Prepare to snooze:

I have a basic nightly ritual which includes changing into my pyjamas, brushing my teeth, washing my face, moisturizing and maintaining my nails. This puts me at 9 o'clock.

Read:

Its amazing how much I forget about any stresses of my day when I'm completely enthralled by a great story. My advice is to not just get any ol' book to fill that space on your bedside table; get a book you've been dying to read, a biography a classic or an adventure. I read for about one hour which puts me at 10 o'clock.

This is when its lights out, I'm already relaxed, I've taken the time to make my upcoming morning easy as pie. I've effectively occupied my entire evening with meningful productive stress-busting tasks that have kept me from mindlessly eating in front of the TV.